Automatic mail receiving and delivering apparatus.



H. H. HUNTER. AUTOMATIC MAIL RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.APPLICATION FILED OGT. 1,1908.

922,701 Patented May 25, 1909.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Witness I arrow,

THE NORRIS PETERS 00., wasnmmou, 0. c.

H. H. HUNTER. AUTOMATIC MAIL RECEIVING AND'DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLIGATION FILED OCT. 1,1908.

922,701 Patented my 25, 1909.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

airmen ton witnzooea H. H- HUNTER.

AUTOMATIO MAIL RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 1,1908.

922,701 Patented May 25, 1909.

Snozntoz Suventoz Patented May 25 5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

H. H. HUNTER. AUTOMATIC MAIL RECEIVING 4ND DELIVERING APPARATUS.APPLICATION FILED OCT. 1,1909- 922,701

imy fl Qlzfi 62. {PM

Wit-name:

H. H. HUNTER. AUTOMATIC MAIL RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 1,1908.

Patented May 25, 1909.

5 BEBETB-SHEBT 5.

nnrrnn s'ra rn rarer anion.

HENRY H. HUNTER, OF BERKELEY SPRINGS, WEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OFONE-HALF TO RICHARD E. BERRY AND DALLAS BERRY, OF ASHGROVE, VIRGINIA.

AUTOMATIC MAIL RECEIVING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1909.

Application filed October 1, 1908. SerialNo. 455,597.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY H. HUNTER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Berkeley Springs, in the county of Morgan and State of WestVirginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AutomaticMail Receiving and Delivering Apparatus; and I do declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and tothe letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a partof this s ecification.

This invention rel ates to new and useful improvements in mail catchingand delivering apparatus for railway mail service, the object in viewbeing to produce an apparatus of this nature which will be entirelyautomatic in its action and comprises mechanism whereby the doors of amail car may be opened for the delivery of mail and for the reception ofmail. matter and actuated entirely independent of the occupant of thecar.

The invention comprises various details of construction, combinationsand arrangements of parts which will be hereinafter fully described andthen specifically defined in the appended claims;

I illustrate my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure1 is a perspective view of a car showing the apparatus immediatelybefore being operated to receive and deliver mail.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the mechanism actuated and about toreceive a bag of mail and showing also a bag thrown from the car. Fig. 3is a sectional view longitudinally through a car showing the variousparts of my mechanism in elevation and in readiness to be actuated forreceiving and delivering mail. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing therelative positions of the parts when thrown into operative relation.Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 4 and looking in thedirection of the arrow. Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6 6 of Fig.5. Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 7-7 of Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is asectional view on line 88 of Fig. 4. Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail viewshowing a pivotal in and lock therefor, and Fig. 10 is an enl argeddetail view of one of the sliding doors over the delivery opening of thecar.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter, Adesignates a mail car having a door 0 ening A through which mail isadapted to e received into the car while the latter is travelingrapidly. Sliding doors A and A are mounted in said opening to close thesame and designed to slide back and forth upon suitable guideways and,if preferred, ball bearings may be employed to reduce the amount offriction to minimum. Projecting from said door A is a pivotal pin A towhich a lever A through which a slot A therein has a sliding pivotalconnection. The lever A is mounted u on a pivotal pin B projecting fromthe wal of the car, and C designates a bar which is pivotally connectedby means of a pivot C to the upper end of the lever A". An angled leverD mounted upon a pivot D is pivotally connected by means of a pin D withthe other end of the bar C. A second door opening, designated. by letterE, is formed at any suitable location in the side wall of the car and inwhich a vertical sliding door E is mounted in suitable guideways, andfastened to the rear face of the door E is a guard plate E an enlargeddetail View of which is shown in Fig. 10 of the drawings. Said guard.plate has lugs E struck up from the corners thereof and fastened to thedoor in such a manner that a space E is left intermediate the inner faceof the door and said guard plate to allow the lever F to tilt thereinwithout interference with any object which might come adjacent to thedoor. Said lever F is pivotally connected to the door a} any suitablelocation, such as near its center, and its upper end is pivotallyconnected to one end of the angled lever D, as clearly shown in Figs. 3and 4. In order to assist the door E in closing by gravity, a Weight Eis attached thereto, preferably upon its upper end, it being understoodthat the operative parts of my improved mail receiving and deliveryapparatus are turned automatically to their normal position by gravity.

The mail delivery apparatus comprises a bar N pivotally mounted upon arock shaft N which is journaled in suitable bearings in the walls of arecess N formed in the bottom of the car and a counter-balanced weight Nis fastened to the end of the bar N for the purpose of returning thelatter to the pin in place.

its normal position after having been tilted by the weight of a mail-bagin delivering the same. In Fig. 8 of the drawings, I have shown a mailbag, designated by letter O, mounted upon a hook or projection of anykind desi nated by letter N; An anti-friction whee N is journaled nearthe u per end of the bar N and bears frictionafly against said guardpllate E The second of said doors, whic is designated by letter A andwhich is similar in construction to the door A has a pivot G projectingtherefrom, and G designates a curved or angled lever having an elongatedslot G affording a sliding pivotal connection with the pivot G, and abar H is pivotally con nected at one end to the pin H, which is fastenedto the door A and its other end is pivotally connected by means of a pinH with the lower end of the lever G, which latter also has pivotalconnection with a in G upon the wall of the car immediately Felow thelower edge of the door A. It will be noted that said lever G is providedL with a plurality of apertures whereby a bar I may have pivotalconnection therewith.

A third rail, designated by letter K, is ada ted to be fastened parallelwith the tracr rails and along one side thereof, said third rail havingtapering portion K near each end, and J designates an angled lever whichis mounted upon a pin J carried by the bars J 2 which are fastened tothe bottom of the car. The lower end of the lever J has pivotallyconnected thereto a Wheel J 3 which is normally positioned in the pathof said third rail and affording means whereby, as a car equipped withthe apparatus passes over the third rail, said lever J will be tiltedupon its pivot by the wheel J 3 coming in contact with the upper edge ofsaid third rail. The upper end of the lever J is adapted to beadjustably connected to the bar I in one or another of the apertures Iby means of the pin I, an enlarged detail view of which is shown in Fig.9 of the drawings. Said pin has a flange I with a groove I therein,which groove extends through the flange and shank portion of the pin.Said pin also has a circumferential groove I in which the end of aspring finger I is adapted to engage to hold The end of the finger Ipasses through the groove in the flange and, as the point of said fingercomes into the annular groove, the pin may be given a partial rotarymovement which will hold the end of said pin in a locking relation.

suitable strap L is fastened to the wall of the car and serves as a stopagainst which the flange of said pin is adapted to contact when theoperative parts of the apparatus are in the ositions s own in Fig. 3.

1V ounted upon the outer face of the side of the car is an angled bar ormail receiving arm, designated by letter Q, having a shank portion Qadapted to telescope within a tubular shell Q horizontally disposed andfastened adjacent to the door opening A, and Q designates a coiledspring which is mounted upon said shank of the mail re ceiving bar andbears intermediate the angled portion of the latter and the end of saidshell and is provided for the purpose of breaking the impact of the blowwhich will be imparted to said mail receiving arm in receiving a mailbag while a train is moving rapidly. A pin Q projects from the shankportion of said bar Q and extends through a slot Q formed longitudinallyin the shell Q and said pin serves as a means to limit the movement ofthe shank portion of the bar Q in opposite directions and also to causethe shank portion of the mail receiving bar to rock with the shell inthe manner which will be resently described. At positions diametrica lyo po site upon the free angled end of the bar are the bowed projectionsR which are provided for the purpose of preventing the mail bag beingreceived into the car from winding about the bar the moment it strikesthe latter when being received from the derrick or other station uponwhich the mail bag has been previously positioned to be delivered to themoving car. Said pro'ections R have a tendency to cause the mail bag tostraighten out as it moves against said bar toward the car openinginstead of winding about the bar as under the influence of the impactcoming against the bag. These projections insure the bag being thrown bythe momentum into the interior of the car where a suitable receptacle Mmounted upon the standard M may be provided for receiving the same. Theshank portion of the mail receiving bar Q is rocked automatically bymeans of a link S pivotally connected at one end to an arm S which isintegral with said shell Q while its other end is pivotally connected toa pin S mounted upon a hook S which projects from the lower end of thebar S. The upper end 'of said bar S is pivotally connected to a pin Twhich passes through a guide plate T mounted in suitable grooves in theguide block T a detail of which is shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings. Abar T is pivotally connected at its inner end to a pivot T projectingfrom the door A and its upper end has a sliding pivotal connection withthe end of the in T, the latter mounted in a slot T in the ever bar T. Acoiled spring W is fastened at one end to the pin 'I and its other endsecured to a pin WV which projects from the bar T near its upper end,the purpose of which spring W is to hold the mail receiving baryieldingly so that the angled portion thereof will be held yieldingly ina horizontal position in readiness to receive the mail bag.

The mail to be delivered to a car is adapted to be held upon the usualderrick, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, in

which he hag is held by the projecting arms Y and i" so that the bagwill be in the path of the receiving bar Q when the latter is thrown outinto the position sl'iown in. llig. 2 of the drawii ,7

The operation. of my apparatus will be readily understood and is as lollowsz fi r hen a car equipped with my improved apparatus for receivingand delivering mail passes over a third rail, the wheel 5 on the lever Jcoming in contact with the upper surface of said third rail, whichlatter is preferably inclined or curved as shown, will cause the lever Jto tilt which in turn will communicate motion to the lovers G and A",causing the two doors h a rd A to he tl'irown open and in which reitwould assui'ne the position shown in l ig. 4 of the drawings. The momenttie doors ing open, the mail receiving bar or a rm Q, through the mediumof the connecting mechanism with the slotted har T", will be thrown intothe position shown in 2 of the drawings, in which position its outerangled portion will he in. a horizontal plane. Simultaneously with thesemovements, the door l5 will he raised by the lever and bar connect onswith the door A causing the met-hams n to assume the position shown inFig. l of the drawings. The mail bag 0, which has been previouslymounted upon the hook N of the bar ii, will hold the latter so that theanti-friction, wheel 1' will hear St the taco of the guard plate E and,when the guard plate and the door to which it is fastened are raised tothe position shown i' l, the l ar N with the mail hag mounted thereon\Yir tilt upon its pivot N as the v. eight of the i if will overcome thecounterbalaree N thus causing the mail hag to fall through the dooropening and may be receivcd into a receptacle or fal directly upon theground. living to the fact that my inn-- proved apparatus may beregulated to operate at a precis moment and that being at the lure thecar passes over the third rail, a suitrece' tacle mounted upon theground at car, thus pri-rventi' suction undernea the car or lost ingrass or needs which occurs frequently where mail lmgs are now deliveredfrom a car. The mail bag to he i from the car and which has hcenpreviously hooked upon the derrick will he ttilIQl? up as it comesagainst the an gled end of the receiving bar or arm, the impact of thehag bein tal-zen up by the coiled in portion oi said receivr'rs the nagstrikes the angled porl d car or arm, the howed portions upon sait arm will have a tendency 0 cause the hag to straighten out rather than wirdabout the arm as would be the e 1e for said projections. it will thus Li he noted that tne bag will he delivered with-- out being folded intothe car and may be caught in any receptacle provided therein. The momentthe car passes over the third rail, the weight of the wheel 5'" and alsoof weighted door E will cause a reverse motion to he imparted to thelever mechanism, closing the doors and returning the operative parts totheir normal positions. As the door is closed. the mail receivin bar isswun 1 I 13 down to the position shown in Fig. 1 oi the drawings.

it will thus he noted that, by the provision of an apparatus as shownand described, a simple and eliicient mechanism is afforded whereby mailmay be automatimilly received by a carmoving at any rate of speed andmail delivered, the doors of the car being anton'nittically opened aswell closed before and after receiving and delivering the mail. By theprovision of an apparatus of this na ture. mail may be delivered withoutthe mail cleriis standing at the doors at all hours of the day and nightfor the purpose of watch ing stations where it is desired to receive anddeliver which is commonly the practice at present and which requires theconstant service of an operator for this purpose.

What I claim to be new is:

1. An automatic apparatus for receiving and delivering mail comprising acar, sliding doors adapted to close openings therein, a third rail, apivotal lever mounted upon the car and adapted to he tilted by saidthird rail, mechanism connecting said lever and doors for opening thesame, said doors being held open by and during the contact of the leverwith said rails, a mail receiving arm, and means for throwing the sameinto an operative position as said door is opened, as set forth.

2. An automatic apparatus for receiving and delivering mail comprising acar, sliding doors adapted to close openings therein, a third rail, apivotal lever mounted upon the car and adapted to he tilted by saidthird rail, mechanism connecting said lever and doors for opening thesame, said doors being held open by and during the contact oi the leverwith said rails, a mail receiving arm, means for throwing the same intoan operative position as said door is opened, and means for delivering amail bag as one of said doors opens, as set forth.

3. An. automatic apparatus for receiving and delivering mail comprisin acar, sliding doors adapted to close openings therein, a pivotal levermounted upon the car and adapted to be tilted by a third rail, mechanismconnecting said lever and doors for opening the same, a mail receivingarm, means for throwing the same into an operative position as said dooris opened, nd a counterbalance mail delivery device actuated as one ofsaid doors opens, as set forth.

4. An automatic apparatus for receiving iOv and delivering mailcomprising a car, sliding doors adapted to close openings therein, apivotal lever mounted upon the car and adapted to be tilted by a thirdrail, mechanism connecting said lever and doors for opening the same, amail receiving arm, means for throwing the same into an operative po'sition as said door is opened, and a counterbalance mail delivery deviceengaging one of said doors and designed to deliver the bag as the dooris raised, as set forth.

5. An automatic apparatus for receiving and delivering mail comprising acar, sliding doors adapted to close openings therein, a pivotal levermounted upon the car and adapted to be tilted by a third rail, meansconnecting said lever and doors for opening the latter, an angled mailreceiving member mounted upon the side wall of the car, and pivotallever and bar connections intermediate the same and one of said doorswhereby, as the latter are opened, said mail receiving member may bethrown into a receiving position, as set forth.

6. An automatic apparatus for receiving and delivering mail comprising acar, sliding doors adapted to close openings therein, a pivotal levermounted upon the car and adapted to be tilted by a third rail, meansconnecting said lever and doors for opening the latter, an angled mailreceiving member mounted upon the side wall of the car, pivotal leverand bar connections intermediate thesame and one of said doors whereby,as the latter are opened, said mail receiving member may be thrown intoa receiving position, and means upon the latter for preventing a mailbag winding about the same, as set forth.

7. An automatic apparatus for receiving and delivering mail comprising acar, sliding doors adapted to close openings therein, a pivotal levermounted upon. the car and adapted to be tilted by a' third rail, meansconnecting said lever and doors for opening the latter, an angled mailreceiving member mounted upon the side wall of the car, pivotal leverand bar connections intermediate the same and one of said doors whereby,as the latter are opened, said mail receiving member may be thrown intoa receiving position, and bowed projections upon the mail receiving armfor preventing a mail bag winding about the latter, as set forth.

8. An automatic apparatus for receiving and delivering mail comprising acar, sliding doors adapted to close openings therein, a pivotal levermounted upon the car and adapted to be tilted by a third rail, meansconnecting said lever and doors for opening the latter, a yieldingangled mail receiving member, a rocking shell in which the shank portionof said member telescopes, and means connecting said shell with a doorwhereby said shell and receiving member may be rocked as the door isopened, as set forth.

9. An automatic apparatus for receiving and delivering mail comprising acar, sliding doors adapted to close openings therein, a pivotal levermounted upon the car and adapted to be tilted by a third rail, meansconnecting said lever and doors for opening the latter, a yieldingangled mail receiving member, a rocking shell in which the shank portionof said member telescopes, a pin projecting from the shank portion ofthe mail receiving arm and extending through a slot in said shell, andconnections intermediate the latter and one of said doors whereby themail receiving member may be thrown into a receiving position as thedoor is opened, as set forth.

10. An automatic apparatus for receiving and delivering mail comprisinga car, sliding doors adapted to close openings therein, a pivotal levermounted upon the car and adapted to be tilted by a third rail, meansconnecting said lever and doors for opening the latter, a yieldingangled mail receiving member, a rocking shell in which the shank portionof said member telescopes, a pin rojecting from the shank portion of themail receiving arm and extending through a slot in said shell, an armprojecting from said shell, a link connected to said arm, andconnections between said link and door whereby, as the latter is opened,said mail receiving arm may be thrown to a receiving position, as setforth.

1].. An automatic apparatus for receiving and delivering mail comprisinga car, sliding doors adapted to close openings therein, a pivotal levermounted upon the car and adapted to be tilted by a third rail, meansconnecting said lever and doors for opening the latter, a yielding anled mail receiving member, a rocking shell 1n which the shank portion ofsaid member telescopes, a pin projecting from the shank portion of themail receiving arm and extending through a slot in said shell, an armprojecting from said shell, a link connected to said arm, a slidingplate and guideway in which the same is mounted, pivotal connectionsbetween said plate and link, and a bar pivotally connecting said plateand door, as set forth.

12. An automatic apparatus for receiving and delivering mail comprisinga car, sliding doors adapted to close openings therein, a pivotal levermounted upon the car and adapted to be tilted by a third rail, meansconnecting said lever and doors for opening the latter, a yieldingangled mail receiving member, a rocking shell in which the shank portionof said member telescopes, a pin projeoting from the shank portion ofthe mail receiving arm and extending through a slot in said shell, anarm projecting from said shell, a link connected to said arm, a slidingplate and guideway in which the same is mounted, pivotal connectionsbetween sald plate and link, a bar pivoted at one end to one of saidplates, a pin projecting from said plate and having a play in alongitudinal slot in said bar, a spring iastened at one end to saidpivotal pin and its other end to said 1 slotted bar, as set forth.

13. A mail receiving and delivery apparatus for railway mail servicecomprising, in combination with a car, horizontally and. verticallysliding doors for regulating openings in the side oi' the car, a tiltinglever mounted upon the car and adapted to be actuated by a third railpositioned in the path of one end of said lever, pivotal leverconnections between said doors and lever actuated by the third rail, barand lever connections between one of said horizontally sliding doors andthe vertically movable doors, a Weight upon said vertically movabledoor, a counter-balanced mail delivery member adapted to bear againstsaid vertically movable door and to tilt as the latter is raised, arocking mail receiving member, and mechanism intermediate the same andone ratus for railway mail service comprising, in

combination with a car, horizontally and vertically sliding doors forregulating openings in the side of the car, a tilting lever mounted uponthe car and adapted to be actuated by a third rail positioned in thepath of one end of said lever, a bar adjustably connected to saidtilting lever, a lever pivoted upon the car and having a fixed pivotalconnection With one oi the horizontally sliding doors and a slidingpivotal connection with the other, a mail delivery device actuated asthe vertically movable door is opened, and a mail receiving member"which is thrown into.1.'eceiving position as the horizontally disposeddoors are opened,

as set forth.

In testimony Whereo'l' I hereunto afliX my signature in presence of twoWitnesses H. H. HUNTER.

- lVitnesses:

H. W. DISHER, JOHN O. GREENE.

